Poverty and Place

May 11, 2015

To the Editor:

“Change of Address Offers a Pathway Out of Poverty” (The Upshot, front page, May 4) features important new data demonstrating that “place” matters a great deal to a child’s economic prospects. It is not the people but the conditions they live in that are at the root of most poverty.

More than 45 million Americans live below the poverty line. As a practical matter, they cannot all move to higher income neighborhoods with better schools, more jobs and easier access to affordable housing and medical care. But we can improve these and other crucial factors that contribute to the economic strength and diversity of inner-city communities.

We need to invest more heavily in these communities to make them stronger and their residents more likely to succeed.